Healing
by Avengers-Assemble-Bro
Summary: The battle of New York is over and Tony Stark has offered The Avengers his building, they have all graciously accepted. Now Clint and Natasha must get over their demons and continue on as members of The Avengers. I suck at summaries, my first fanfic. I appreciate constructive criticism, please review!
1. Chapter 1

Healing

Chapter 1

Everything hurt.

But it wasn't like me to show others my pain. One man saw through me though. I could feel his watchful green eyes following my every move. All of the Avengers -with the exception of Thor who was busy dealing with his brother- stumbled out of the elevator into Tony Starks living room.

"You guys can choose whatever floor you want to crash on. I'm going to bed." And Tony walked out of the living with a wave. Everyone just stood there for a few seconds before Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner headed towards the elevator.

"I'll take the fifth floor" Rogers announced,

"I'll take the sixth." Sighed Banner. And they both nodded before heading towards their rooms.

Once we were alone in the hallway Clint Barton lightly grabbed me by the arm. My instincts kicked in and I aimed a punch for his jaw, but my aim was off (probably because I was in so much pain) and he dodged it easily catching my fist in his palm.

"Hey, relax Tasha." He said, frowning at me.

"Sorry."

"Are you okay? You don't look so good." Worry clear is his tone.

"Yeah. I'm okay, just a few cuts and bruises. I've had worse." I replied not looking him in the eyes. This time he grabbed me by my shoulders.

"Seriously Tasha. You don't just have just a few cuts and bruise. You've got blood soaking through you suit and too many lacerations to cut which are defiantly going to need stitches. Maybe I should take you to the medical ward." I still couldn't find myself looking him in the eyes, I was just staring directly at his chest. Damn it, why couldn't I look at my partner in the eyes!

"No, really Clint. I'm fine, and I'm too tired to have to deal with doctors and shit tonight. I promise I'll go tomorrow. I'm not the only one we should be worried about here, you look just as awful as me." I shrugged his hands off of my shoulders and started towards a bedroom in the back of the hallway. He followed slowly behind me. Once we got into the bedroom I headed straight for the shower. I had to get all this blood and dust off of me. The smell of metal was so overwhelming. I stripped right down and stepped into the shower turning it on as hot as it could go.

. . .

As soon as me and Natasha walked into the bedroom she headed straight for the shower. I couldn't blame her, I was dying to wash off all this blood and dirt off too. I walked over to the bed and practically collapsed on it. I had a huge headache and every muscle was throbbing. I laid there for a while until I heard the shower turn off. I pulled myself to my feet and walked towards the door. I could see the steam coming out from under the door. I knocked.

"Tasha, can I come in?" There was silence for a few seconds.

"Sure."

I slowly opened the door to see her leaning on the bathroom counter, dressed in old gray sweats and a loose shirt. I smiled to myself, it was nice to see her in casual wear. But my smile faded when I got a better look. Her face was red from the heat and all the cuts seemed ten times worse. I could see her favoring her right ankle and holding her left shoulder. As I looked a little closer I could see a blood spot forming around her abdominal area. Her eyes followed mine and she cursed quietly in Russian.

"Natasha." I whispered making my way over to her. Now that the steam had cleared her face went back to paleness. It was even more pale then usual (if that was possible). I went to grab her, but she pushed away.

"I'm fine, I'll let you have your shower." She rushed out the door. I knew it was no use going after her so I just closed the door and let the hot water enclose around my body.

. . .

I waited until I could hear the water running until I took off my shirt and looked towards my stomach. I could plainly see the huge gash that I noticed in the shower. It defiantly didn't look that bad before. It was caused by one of Loki's robot thingy's plunging it's spear into my side. I slowly bent down looking for the medical kit in our duffel bags. I found some gauze pads and bandages and started fixing myself up. I hoped to finished before Clint was out of the shower, but I wasn't even half way finished when the water stopped and he stepped wearing his boxers. I smiled at his, or rather grimaced and he rushed towards me.

"Tasha, what the hell happened?"

"What happened? Oh I don't know Clint, maybe it's the fact that we fought over ten thousand chitauri less than two hours ago." He scowled at me, and grabbed the gauze and bandages from my hands. I sighed.

"Just before I closed the portal, one of the chitauri sort of stabbed me." He looked up at me trying to find my eyes, but I refused to look at him. He stared at me for a while before looking back at my wound.

"You can't just bandage this up. This needs stitches. Now. Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the medical ward. This could get in infected." I rolled my eyes.

"Clint we both know you can do as good as a job as any of those doctors. Please just stitch me up. I want to go to bed." He smiled.

"You owe me." He shuffled around the medical kit and found some thread and a needle. "I'll see if I can find some pain killers before I start."

"No, don't worry about it. Just get it done." He shrugged and started threading the needle. I closed my eyes and tried to steady my breathing. This was going to hurt. He looked up at me before inserting the needle into my skin. The pain was immediate. I shut my eyes and bit on my bottom lip to keep from screaming. He hands were as gentle as possible but that didn't change the fact that he was sewing my skin closed. After what felt like an eternity he finished, he cleaned all the tools, and started wrapping my side. I stood up and pulled my shirt back on. He stood up and stretched before collapsing on the bed. My side hurt too badly to do the same, so I gracefully crawled in next to him making sure not to lay on my left side. Unfortunately not being able to lay on my left side had me face to face with Clint. Once again he tried to find my eyes, and once again I found myself looking at his chest.

"Why won't you look at me in the eyes?" He whispered. Hurt clear in his voice.

"I am." I replied looking at the bridge of his nose.

"No. You're looking at my nose. My eyes are up here."

"Clint, I just want to go to sleep." I attempted to close my eyes, but I could feel him staring daggers at me. "What?!" I snapped.

"You didn't answer my question. Why won't you look at me in the eyes?" I didn't know what to say. Fuck, I didn't know why I couldn't look at him in the eyes so how was I suppose to explain it to him? I just wanted to sleep. My side was burning, my ankle was probably fractured, my shoulder was most likely dislocated, and my head was killing me.

"I just want to sleep." I repeated my voice sounding much weaker than I intended.

. . .

As soon as I finished stitching up Natasha wound, I collapsed on the bed. I rolled on to my right side, and found myself face to face with Natasha. I was looking at her but she was looking at my chest, I noticed with early. She hasn't looked me in the eyes since the battle. I knew something was up.

"Why won't you look me in the eyes?" I was hoping to get a solid answer, but this was Natasha. If she doesn't want you to know, you will never find out.

"I am." She replied looking at the bridge of my nose. What the hell? Does she think I've turned into medusa?

"No. You're looking at my nose. My eyes are up here." I could see her battling with herself.

"I just want to sleep." Her voice sounded so small and weak it was scary hearing that from the Black Widow. I decided it was time to just drop it. I was tired, she was tired, there was no point in carry this on any further. I'll talk to her in the morning. I gave one last look at her, she looked extremely small underneath all those covers. I tried to find her eyes one last time, but it was no use. I rolled over a fell into an uneasy sleep.

I awoke that night drenched in sweat and images of all the shield agents I killed still fresh in my mind. I looked over to find Natasha missing. I glanced at the alarm clock it read 4:05 a.m. I swung my feet off the bed and stood up, the cold floor on my feet felt great. I stretched and set out to find Natasha. I checked every inch of the room but she was nowhere to be seen. I quietly walked into the living and found her looking out the window that made up all of one wall. Once again I noticed how small she looked against the big city of Manhattan. I slowly walked over to her and put my hands on her shoulders, she didn't move. We just stood there in each other's company; we didn't have to say anything, simply being there was enough for both of us.

. . .

I awoke that night drenched in sweat, I could still feel Clints hands around my throat as he carries out Lokis doings. I sat up and glanced over at Clint, I knew it wouldn't be long before he awoke his own demons eating his insides. I slowly got out of bed a shuffled over to the door. I made my way to the living and looked out the window that over looked all of Manhattan. You could still see some dead chitauri scattered on the streets. I stood there for a while until I heard Clint stumbled into the living room. He slowly came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. It was a small form of comfort, but it meant the world to me. We just stood there in each other's company; nobody had to say anything, simply being there was enough for both of us. We continued to stand there for a good while before Clint shifted his weight and turned me around to face him. This time I did. I looked him straight in the eyes and all I saw was the blue swimming around his usually gray eyes. My instincts kicked in yet again when they shouldn't have, I punched him square in the jaw catching him off guard. He stumbled back and I round house kicked him in the chest causing him to fall. He looked up and me and green eyes met gray. I backed away and he stood up blood pouring from his nose.

"W-what the h-hell Tasha?" He stuttered trying to get air back into his lungs.

"I-I'm sorry Clint, I thought I-I saw blue in your eyes."

"It was probably just the reflection from the moon." He said grabbing the dish towel and holding his nose. "Let's just get back to bed before everybody else gets up." He walked towards the bedroom and I followed behind him.

"Look Clint, I'm really sorry about that. I just panicked you kno-" He cut me off.

"It's fine Tasha, really. Let's just get into bed, I'm really tired." He crawled in the bed and lifted the sheets for me to crawl in next to him. I accept immediately and he wrapped his arms around my waist. We both fell asleep only to be waken an hour later my JARVIS.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow. I was so surprised to see how many people Followed/Favorites/Reviewed or just read my story. Thank you. I don't know when I'll be able to update again with school coming up and everything… anyway happy reading!

Chapter 2

Good Morning Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff. Mr. Stark has breakfast ready on the 7th floor, the rest of the team is currently in the kitchen.

"Thanks JARVIS."I replied. I looked over to Natasha and saw her eyes opening.

" 'Morning Tasha, sleep well?" I asked sounding as innocently as possible.

"Shut up Barton." She replied pulling the covers over her face. I laughed, she reminded me of a little kid not wanting to go to school.

"Come on sleepy head, time to wake uuuup." I pulled the covers back and poked her head. She turned on her stomach and buried her face on the pillow.

"I swear to God Barton if you don't stop poking my head I will break every bone in your body." Her words were muffled by the pillow but I got her drift. I shuffle out of bed and start getting dressed. Once I finished I went to make a cup of coffee knowing we were both going to need it to start the day. I came back into the room and Natasha hadn't moved a muscle. I was certain she had fallen back a sleep until she stuck out her hand, signaling for me to hand her, her coffee. I gave her the steaming cup of caffeine and she sat up. She both sat on the bed in silence sipping our coffee.

"How's your side feeling?" I asked, my eyes not leaving her. She shrugged. "May I take a look?" She shrugged again. I took that as a yes, and lifted her shirt up. It was defiantly better than last night, but still needed stitches. "It looks better, but you still need stitches, I'll take you to the medical ward after breakfast." She nodded and finished the last bit of her coffee before starting to get dressed. I could see her still favoring her ankle, and I resisted the urge to help her. Once she finished we made our way to the elevators. The doors opened to reveal Rogers and Stark in a game of tug-a-war with a piece of toast and Banner recording it with his phone.

"Let go of MY piece of toast Stark!"

"Screw you Rogers. I had it first!" I ran a hand over my face and felt Natasha presence leave. I looked up in time to see her stroll over to the two fighting men and take the toast from their hands. They both watched mouths open as she ate the toast and walked back to stand next to me. I couldn't help but smile. Natasha expression stayed emotionless.

"What the hell!" Yelled Tony. "That was MY fucking piece of toast!" I looked over at Rogers and saw he had already dropped it and started making himself waffles. I could tell Tony was going to do no such thing. Bruce started laughing and I joined in. Natasha walked right past Tony and poured herself another cup of coffee. Stark just stared at her the whole time, mouth open eyes narrowed. She sat down beside Bruce and I walked over to Tony.

"Well Mr. Stark, it looks like you just got owned. By a girl." I clasped him on the shoulder and sat down next to Natasha. He opened his mouth to say something but JARVIS interrupted him.

Sorry to interrupt sir, but Nick Furry is insisting he speak with the team.

"Ugh, we just finished saving the world, I thought we were going to get a little peace before that Cyclops comes knocking on the door."

So I should let him in sir?

"Whatever."

Seconds later Nick Fury walked in wearing his usual eye patch and long black coat.

"Thank you Mr. Stark, for graciously letting me into your home." Tony just sat there, pouting like a little child.

"Agent Barton, Agent Romanov." He nodded towards myself and Natasha. "Dr. Banner, Captain the board has requested that all of you are present when Loki and Thor are send back to Asgard. They will be leaving this afternoon at exactly 4 o'clock. The board has also decided that the safest place for them to leave will be the same place we found Thor's hammer. I trust you will ALL be there." He glanced over at Tony before walking out.

"Well that was a pleasant visits considering it was Fury." I stated. Natasha nodded in response.

"Hey Rogers do you think you could give me a ride on that motorcycle of yours? I don't exactly have a ride to get there." Asked Bruce. "Sure no problem Banner." I glanced over at Natasha and noticed she was grimacing in… pain? Oh shit! I gotta take her to the medical ward! "Natasha." I whispered, "I think we should go to the medical ward now." She almost looked relieved. "Yeah, sure." I stood up and held out a hand for her, but all I got was a dirty look. We started walking out when we were stopped by Tonys voice.

" Excuse me, where do you think you two are going?"

"Fuck off Stark." Natasha answered.

"A bit touchy are we?" Pushed Stark. I hoped for the sake of his health he would shut the hell up. I knew Natasha wanted to go to the medical ward too much to right Tony right now, and lucky for him she just kept walking. Once we were alone she started favoring her ankle again, worse this time. The ward was only three floors down but it felt like forever. We walked in and were immediately met my a flustered looking nurse.

"FINALLY!" She squealed, "you two are the only members who haven't completed their check up." She surveys both of us, her eye's lingering on Natasha. "yes well, this way." She lead us down a long corridor of white doors. We reached the last door and she ushered me in, making sure Natasha didn't follow. "These are individual examinations." She closed the door leaving me surrounded by white furniture and the smell of bleach.

. . .

As soon as Barton's door closed I felt alone. I hated that. I don't understand why after being alone for almost all of my life, it felt so surreal now. I didn't have much time to ponder on that thought because the nurse was shoving me into the room across from Clints.

"A doctor will be here soon to check you over, you will most defiantly require stitches and perhaps other major care so I suggest you put on those robes." She nodded towards a white cloth laying on the bed. "Now if you please excuse me I must check on your friend." Put on robed? Fuck no, I'm not planning on staying here more than an hour. The very thought of having to stay long then 60 minutes gives me the chills, this place triggers WAY to many memories. I sat down on the bed just as the doctor walked in. He was a younger looking guy probably between 24-28 and he looked scared shitless. He was shaking and refused to make eye contact with me. My first thought was he lost a bet and had to be my doctor. Wouldn't surprise me.

"W-well Agent R-romanov, let's start with a simply X-Ray. I see you haven't changed into your robes yet, so if you don't mind I'll step out and let you get changed." He started walking away but I him stopped by clearing my throat. He slowly turned around ready to be attacked I'm sure.

"If you don't mind, I would prefer to keep the clothes I have on right now."

"Oh, ummm, I guess that shouldn't be a problem. Just follow me to the X-Ray room… please." I couldn't help but smirk at the way he was acting. I followed him back up the corridor and into the first door on the left. It was as white as the rest and had an X-Ray machine right in the middle of the room. "We will be X-raying your ankle, shoulder, and your left side. Please put on this vest while we capture your ankle." A few minutes later we headed back down to my room. "I'll be back momentarily with the results." And once again I found myself alone. And once again I didn't have much time to think about it before I heard Clint scream in agony from the other room.


End file.
